Dark Markets Observatory
Smuggling Prosecutions in England and Wales c. 1722-1732
This is a raw version of the data that was transcribed and compiled from reports ordered by the British House of Commons in 1733. In that year and following debate over the Excise Bill, the House ordered a summary of all prosecutions for smuggling throughout England, Wales, and Scotland for the preceding 10 years.
While the Scottish report has not yet been located, the reports for England and Wales were found
at the National Archive, Kew, England (references T64/146-149).
Corrected data will be provided in early March, 2026
If you think this data might be useful, please feel free to email me with ideas about formatting, visualizations or connections with other sources. If you detect errors, please also let me know. dasmith@wlu.ca
Thanks to Jessica Duncan and Nicholas Morrison for their excellent assistance putting together this database. Jessica used TransKribus to create the transcription and Nicholas proofed the copy.
This research is supported in part by funding from Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Index | Year | Persons | Place | County | Circumstances | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
83 | 1727 | Jerrard Selby & others | at Holy Island Durham | Durham | Imported and run without payment of Duty | were prosecuted for this fraud & Compounded. |
84 | 1727 | George Moore | at Filey Bay Scarborough | Yorkshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | was prosecuted for this fraud & Compounded. |
85 | 1727 | John Davey | at Filey Bay Scarborough | Yorkshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | was prosecuted for this Fraud & Compounded |
86 | 1727 | William Atkinson | at Filey Bay Scarborough | Yorkshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | was prosecuted for this Fraud he is Dead. |
87 | 1727 | John Smithson | at Filey Bay Scarborough | Yorkshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | was prosecuted for this Fraud & other Goods & Judgment was Obtained against him |
88 | 1727 | John Linton | at Filey Bay Scarborough | Yorkshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | was prosecuted for this Fraud he Compounded. |
89 | 1727 | Paul Henzell | at Filey Bay Scarborough | Yorkshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | is prosecuted for this fraud - He has been arrested & has given Bail. |
90 | 1727 | Robert Wilson | Marsh Chappell in Lincolnshire | Lincolnshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | is under prosecution for these & other frauds - he Cant be taken |
93 | 1727 | William Watts & others | Wisbeech | Cambridgeshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | were prosecuted for this fraud but the Witness against them run away & cant be heard of. |
94 | 1727 | James Pile | at Winterton near Yarmouth | Norfolk | Imported and run without payment of Duty | was prosecuted for this & other frauds - He is dead |
95 | 1728 | Andrew Hogg | In Scate Road near Holy Island Durham | Durham | Imported and run without payment of Duty | These persons were prosecuted on Accot of this fraud - Otter for Running the whole Goods & the other persons for Several Different parcels thereof - Otter, Brown & Stamp were arrested & sent to Goal Hayne absconded & could not be taken Watson, Younghusband, Lewen & Hogg Compounded. |
95 | 1728 | Oswald Younghusband | In Scate Road near Holy Island Durham | Durham | Imported and run without payment of Duty | These persons were prosecuted on Accot of this fraud - Otter for Running the whole Goods & the other persons for Several Different parcels thereof - Otter, Brown & Stamp were arrested & sent to Goal Hayne absconded & could not be taken Watson, Younghusband, Lewen & Hogg Compounded. |